For years women have been the backbone of rural communities rallying troops in times of crisis, fundraising and wearing many hats to help keep their town alive.
Subscribe now for unlimited access to all our agricultural news
across the nation
or signup to continue reading
Today is no different except that social media is helping women to change the social fabric of their towns, bringing their journey to the rest of the world.
They are getting in, having a go, and doing all they can to rejuvenate their towns.
Women are reviving old buildings and turning them into destinations where locals travel up to 150 kilometres to attend.
They are establishing groups for women to have a voice and they making sure the next generation have a job on the land.
Meet the women who are making their mark in the their towns and shining a spotlight on their backyard.
- If you know a woman who is championing your town email samantha.townsend@theland.com.au
The Long White Lunch Committee, Cumnock
The Long White Lunch Committee's founding purpose was to improve the long-term sustainability of their town Cumnock.
They are a committee of 13 women who reside and work within the region from various backgrounds that bring a range of skills and knowledge working together to see their community thrive, to support new generations coming through and those that have been there to support them.
They have since flourished into biennial event hosted in Cumnock, NSW, bringing more than 500 guests to town.
All proceeds raised from the 2023 event will be going directly towards the purchasing of the Cumnock General Store, which will be owned and managed by the community.
"Long-term sustainability of our community is at the heart of what we do, and we see this initiative as an opportunity to further improve tourism to our region," committee member Sarah Haynes said.
"At the centre of the town, The Cumnock General Store is integral to the social welfare in our small rural community, but also in the local economy with respect to employment opportunities, access facilities, and the provision of essential goods and services.
"Therefore as a committee we felt the desire to instigate the community buy-back of the General Store to ensure the sustainability of our village and the well-being of our community."
Sarah said regional communities had so many skilled and professional women that now had the ability to work from home and create local business opportunities.
"It is becoming evident that regional communities need to create unique entrepreneurial opportunities for the survival of their towns," Sarah said.
Kat Montgomery, The Rural Trader, Nevertire
In a town poet Henry Lawson described as at the edge of the Great Grey Plain, sits The Rural Trader right next to the Mitchell Highway.
The restored 1930s general store once selling rice, men's slacks, shirts, potatoes and sugar has been transformed into something you would find in Paddington, not in the middle of nowhere - and that's thanks to Kat Montgomery.
Kat had a vision - she wanted to showcase what was special about western NSW no matter what the distance or destination.
And that's exactly what she has done.
The Rural Trader - both in bricks and mortar as well as online - has been carefully curated with a selection of homewares, gifts, apparel and pantry items.
"I used to peek inside whenever I went to the pub," she said.
"You need to be courageous to do something like this and you need to take a risk because this isn't for everyone, it's hard work and not for the faint-hearted."
The main reason for rejuvenating the old building was because growing up in a small community, Kat very early understood the importance of connection.
"I wanted to provide a space for people in the community to gather," she said.
"In times of hardship or stress you want to be able to get away, and feel like you are not on the farm and go somewhere nice.
"And I wanted to show people who are travelling through western NSW what communities like ours can offer."
Kat said the social fabric of towns had been changing in the past decade with more people deciding to come back to the farm or wanting to work in rural Australia.
At the same time women are wanting to 'shake things up'.
"They don't want to be the cook or the cleaner, especially my generation and the generation below me," Kat said.
"We want to have something for ourselves, we want to be able to create something that is special and another source of income for our families.
"We want to provide something that is authentic and something exciting for the community.
"We want to get in and have a go and give back to our community.
"Women are, and they have always been, incredibly capable of doing anything they set their mind to."
Sandra Ireson, Booligal
It's been nearly 10 years since Sandra co-founded Hay Inc - an agricultural hands-on training program - to solve the decline in jillaroos and jackaroos.
Since then 130 people have graduated the program, with most forging successful careers in agriculture.
The training program, which earned Sandra the 2017 Agrifutures NSW/ACT Rural Woman of the Year Award, has now been rolled out in other regions across the nation.
"Technology has helped women on farm or in regional centres stay connected with the rest of the world," Sandra said.
"This has also given women the confidence to network with other women and realise they can have a go."
Sandra loves to bring rural women together and is co-convenor of Thriving Women Growing and Inspiring Women Connected through Agriculture, a premier event being held in Wagga Wagga, August 14 and 15, for women living and working in agriculture.
Chesworths, Little Big Dairy, Dubbo
Erika Chesworth and her daughter Emma Elliott are the beating heart of Little Big Dairy and play a leading role in the family dairy business, including ensuring that philanthropy is built into their business model.
Each week Little Big Dairy delivers donated milk to school breakfast clubs and community groups from Walgett through to Canberra ensuring children have a good meal before class.
They started it seven years ago, initially as a way to reduce waste but as the cost of food and fuel continued to soar, so did the demand for donations.
In 2022 they gave away 10,000 litres of milk to schools, sports clubs and community services across NSW and the ACT.
They are now working with cricket superstar Ash Gardner who a few weeks back launched a brand-new school breakfast program in Dubbo.
Georgina Poole, Moree
Born and bred west of Moree, Georgina Poole is a proud local, passionate about sharing local stories promoting Moree as the vibrant and contemporary town that it is.
Currently Rabobank's national writer, when she's not at work she dedicates her time to a number of community organisations - primarily Moree on a Plate - volunteering her media skills.
"Out here we refer to Moree as the 'centre of the universe', it's a can-do community and so far from anywhere that we really need to make our own fun, and we do that particularly well," Georgina said.
"Moree has a rich history of women weaving the social fabric of the community - from Moree's famed first shop owner Mary Brand in the 1800s, to Lee Estens' iconic charity golf days, and of course Margi Kirkby and Jenni Birch who established the Moree on a Plate Food and Wine Festival almost 20 years ago."
Helping organise an event like Moree on a Plate is a big job, but she said it was also extremely grounding.
"To be able to contribute to something so much bigger than myself, with a really defined purpose that brings so much joy to the community is always worth the effort," she said.
"These are the sorts of events that reinforce that our town is somewhere people should want to live, raise their family and do business, and helping promote this is something I value strongly."
"I love living in Moree, and storytelling is my way of showcasing the exciting and interesting people and events that make our town so special."
More reading: Silverton Goats depot owner's outback ingenuity
Sascha Estens, Rabbit Hop Films, Moree
Dubbed 'the voice from the bush', Sascha loves to shine a spotlight on not only her home town of Moree but also much of regional Australia with agriculture at the forefront of it.
With her work she is helping to reconnect the divide between the city and the country, and humanising the issues rural Australia faces.
"What I've tried to do from the very beginning was create authentic stories from the bush that humanise the issues rural Australia faces," she said.
"Showing real characters, passionate about the land and what they do."
Through her film work, she has also fought many government issues impacting rural Australian communities and farming families.
"Women have been changing the social fabric of regional centres for a long time," she said.
"Growing up watching my mother and her friends undertaking many hugely successful fundraisers, and giving up their time to work on a multitude of committees over the years to help make the community a better place to live has been inspiring.
"Most are in their 70s now and still doing so."
Sascha said the biggest change she had seen was the opportunities that had opened up for women over the years because of the digital age.
"I think back to those incredible tough four years of drought we went through not that long ago," she said.
"Whilst the men on the farms were busy trying to feed livestock and keep the banks away we saw the women not only feeding livestock but innovating and creating these incredible businesses all over regional Australia to bring in an income for their families.
"They really started rise up, dominate and with more confidence their voices became stronger."
Lyndsey Douglas, Writers Who
While she may live in Sydney, Lyndsey spends more time travelling to regional towns across the state than in the big smoke.
As a well-known face and voice in the agricultural shows arena as the first first female main ring announcer, Lyndsey attends many agshows around Australian including the Royal Queensland Show, and MCs industry events like the recent WagyuEdge23 and Paraway station managers conference.
Her business Writers Who is an entirely female network of rural journalists writing for agricultural clients and her online initiative Show Announcers Academy helps a new generation of agricultural commentators to confidently and competently pick up the microphone at their local agshow.
She was also the first female chair of Australian Wool Innovation's woolgrower consulting panel.
"If you believe that "you can't be what you can't see" we are in the verge of a great shift for the fabric of rural Australia," Lyndsey said.
"A new wave of female leaders, the likes of Kristy Sparrow with the enormously effective grass roots BIRRR initiative, Catherine Marriott who is demonstrating a refreshingly accessible style of high impact agricultural leadership, and Jo Palmer who is innovating new pathways to empower rural economies, are showing the next generation of female leaders that they can design and define a stronger, smarter and more sustainable rural Australia."
Jillian Kilby, The Exchange, Dubbo
Jillian Kilby grew up on a farm at Coonamble and after living in Silicon Valley California for five years, she returned to Dubbo where she set about creating her own community of like-minded business owners.
"When I was a kid, I would walk to the farm gate and pop letters in the mail, addressed to myself, written by myself. I have always craved connection and have this in common with so many women I meet in rural areas," Jillian said.
"When I moved from "the bubble" which is what we nickname the intense community experience at Stanford University to Dubbo, I knew I needed a new bubble. As I grew my business, my bubble was The Exchange. A community of people focused on their career and business, and extraordinarily, a huge percentage of our community are women.
The Exchange was established in 2018 to weave a community around small business owners in regional Australia, and to rescue an iconic heritage post office that's been part of the social fabric of Dubbo for more than 140 years.
"Stitched into our community are our values of connecting, collaborating, and empowering each other. I'm one of the business owners, both a founder and community member, who has forever changed thanks to this community," she said.
"Long after I am gone, our rural business community, our social fabric and our heritage building will live on, forever changed and protected by the people who are part of it."
Emily Quigley, Peggy&Twig, Trangie
Having spent more than 10 years creating her own jewellery designs, Emily began designing and making pearl jewellery in 2019.
In early 2022, Emily relocated her business out of her family home and into a renovated former stock and station agent building in Trangie.
Now her pearl creations have been the centre piece for many brides across the world as well as featuring in a number of high fashion Australian magazines.
"I think there is great momentum in towns like Trangie," Emily said.
"Our customers tell us that Trangie and the surrounding towns are now shopping destinations over large regional centres due to the variety on offer. This is part of what breathes life into towns like Trangie.
"I think people are encouraged by the good things happening around them and there's a positive flow-on effect. The key is to find a point of difference."
Georgie Robertson, The Regional PR Co, Wagga Wagga
In an age of photo filters and artificial intelligence, Georgie is an advocate for honest storytelling, amplifying the voices of remarkable rural women whose ideas and innovations are changing the social fabric of their communities.
"The more we can elevate and create avenues for these stories to be told, the more empowering it is for those living beyond the Great Divide," she said.
Running her business remotely from Wagga Wagga, Georgie's clients at The Regional PR Co. are regularly featured in national publications and broadcast slots.
"We work really hard to platform rural women in the hope that this will have a powerful multiplier effect for rural communities," she said.
Bec Diprose, Pallamallawa
When the Pally Pub was up for sale and facing closure, Bec and three other farming families rallied together to revive it in 2017. Since then another family has joined the team.
"It was my late husband's brainwave to purchase the pub when it was up for sale as we didn't want it to close," Bec said, who also runs Dippers Home Hardware and Timber.
"It is the anchoring heart of the village, without it the fabric of the village and community would change."
The pub has been in varying forms over the years but the current premises was built in the 1960s and the new team undertook a major redevelopment in 2020.
It's now a highly marked destination on the grey nomads website drawing local patronage from 150 kilometres.
"We are passionate about the community and where we live and want to see that anchored and continue on," she said.
Laura Craft, Paterson
Laura, a mother of three, wife, small business owner and commerce graduate, this year founded the Paterson Valley Women's Collective - a group of brilliant female business owners, mums and all-round legends to chat about life, business, family and community.
"I am passionate about giving women in my rural area access to face to face connections and events," Laura said.
"I wanted all women in my area to have access to events where they could meet and chat about life, business and family."
